


Darling it's better (under the sea)

by listenforthelove



Series: Rokuban High [3]
Category: Kingdom Hearts, No. 6 - Asano Atsuko
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Crack, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Date to Disneysea, F/F, Gen, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I have a huge-ass crossover in the works in which they actually meet properly, I mean I have no other excuse for this, I'm crying that was already a tag and that was also basically the working title, M/M, No. 6 POV with the KH characters as supportive, also tagged as gen since it's not super shippy but still implied, but for now just roll with it that at least Shion and Sora are already friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-04-12 23:31:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4498911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/listenforthelove/pseuds/listenforthelove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“What’s the catch? Free tickets to a theme park, obviously there is <i>some</i>thing.”<br/>“No catch.” Shion considered his words and figured maybe he should add a bit of information just in case. “Well, I agreed we could all go together, but I don’t consider that a catch.”<br/>“All. <i>All</i>. As in more than two?” Nezumi groaned and let his head fall on the pile of books rather dramatically. “Shion. Is this a freaking <i>double date</i>.”<br/>Shion gave him a sheepish grin. “Maybe?”</p><p>In which Shion and Nezumi go on a double (or is it triple?) date to Tokyo Disneysea and yes I am very sorry about this. Eh. Happy No. 6 Day?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Darling it's better (under the sea)

**Author's Note:**

> OK, this maybe needs the note that I AM in fact working on a big No. 6/Kingdom Hearts crossover that is actually serious. This is very much not it.  
> Tentatively set in the same high school universe as the Rokuban High AU, which means that apparently their school is in Tokyo or nearby. 
> 
> So as an explanation, I went to Japan in June and had an absolute blast and I am trying to cope with having to leave by writing fic. I started two, but naturally the crack one was the one that got finished first so here you go!  
> I'd apologize but really, Yuki Kaji (Shion's VA) and Miyu Irino (Sora's VA) [recorded](http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B00MWM4EWE/ref=s9_simh_gw_p15_d3_i5?pf_rd_m=AN1VRQENFRJN5&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1MGK71HHFHFFWYQ6T90F&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=155416529&pf_rd_i=489986) covers of Part of Your World and Under the Sea respectively so it's technically all their fault.  
> Not the Safu/Kairi part though, that one's all on me and I refuse to apologize for that.

Nezumi was glaring at him over the pile of books on his desk, one eyebrow quirked. “What the hell is that.”

Shion patiently straightened the small card he was holding in front of Nezumi to see.“A ticket.”

“Yeah, genius, I can see that. What is it _for_.”

“A theme park.”

“Well, that’s ridiculous, those are needlessly expensive.”

“It was a gift to me, too. It’s rude to turn down gifts.”

“Isn’t it just as rude to pass on gifts to someone else? Work on your manners, Shion.” Nezumi had already lost interest and was picking up the book he’d left open on the table when Shion had first approached him.

Though most students stayed behind in this empty classroom to work on their overdue homework, Nezumi did so to take advantage of the school’s library collection. He usually waited there for Shion to finish up whatever duties he had as member of the council, so they could walk home together. Home usually entailed Nezumi tagging along to the bakery and snatching whatever sweets he could, Karan never scolding him quite earnestly. 

Today, Shion had taken particularly long as he’d been held up by another student, and Nezumi seemed to have run out of patience waiting for him this time.

“It’s not rude if it was intended to be given away,” Shion responded to Nezumi’s comment, “I got two.”

 “Oh.” Nezumi looked up now, an amused smirk dancing on his lips as he got the hint. “Why, Shion, is this you asking me out on a _theme park date_? How terribly plebeian of Your Majesty.”

“You can just stay at home if you’re going to be like that, Nezumi.”

Nezumi scoffed, but he didn’t take Shion up on that offer just yet. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and studied him more closely. “What’s the catch? Free tickets to a theme park, obviously there is _some_ thing.”

“No catch.” Shion considered his words and figured maybe he should add a bit of information just in case. “Well, I agreed we could all go together, but I don’t consider that a catch.”

“All. _All._ As in more than two?” Nezumi groaned and let his head fall on the pile of books rather dramatically. “Shion. Is this a freaking _double date_.”

Shion gave him a sheepish grin. “Maybe?”

 

*

 

Nezumi hadn’t admitted he’d rather have gone with just Shion, but he ultimately hadn’t turned down the ticket either. He’d said something about gift horses, which Shion found a little off-topic until Nezumi scolded him for not keeping up his reading as promised, and then said he wasn’t going to turn down a free outing, which made more sense to Shion than horses.

So in the end, they found themselves at the train station, Shion fiddling with his Suica pass to keep his hands occupied and Nezumi checking the station clock with growing contempt.

“They’re late,” Nezumi stated the obvious.

Shion was about to formulate a defense for his friend when a carefully moderated shout interrupted his thoughts.

 “Shion!” It was a familiar voice, but not the friend he was expecting. Shion looked up in surprise to meet Safu, smiling happily at him from the crowd and followed closely by a red-haired girl.

“Safu! What are you doing here?”

“The same as you, it appears,” Safu said, nodding back at the girl right behind her. “I was invited to an amusement park by Kairi, and it appears her friends had similar plans. I wasn’t aware it would be you and Nezumi they’d invite, however.”

“They’re coming up,” the red-haired girl said, “Sora got distracted by something or another, but Riku usually drags him along if he takes too long. Oh, speak of the devil.”

A familiar mess of brown spikes appeared among the crowd, followed by enthusiastic waving. “Hey, Shion! Sorry we’re a little late, but still in time for the train, right?”

Nezumi scoffed something that sounded like ‘every five minutes’, which Shion assumed was about the train schedule. “It’s fine, plenty of time,” Shion said, no need to yell as Sora was surprisingly quick to make it to their side grinning broadly, his taller friend Riku by his side. On closer inspection, Sora had just been dragging him along by the hand, as he was still holding it.

“Hi, Nezumi!” Sora now greeted him with his wide grin still in place, not looking discouraged in the slightest when he got a scowl in return. “So you’re who Shion invited, huh? Great to see you again!”

“Whatever,” Nezumi groaned, though he seemed more civil with Riku, who at least got a nod and a ‘hi there’ when he greeted Nezumi a little more low-key than his friend.

Sora was distracted again as he was counting heads, and seemed confused when he only got to six. “Hey, where’s Inukashi?”

“Couldn’t make it,” the girl named Kairi said, “something about…”

“’I’m not gonna hang out with you losers in my free weekend’, in a literal quote.”

Everyone looked up startled as that had been Safu, of all people, doing a less-than-stellar but earnest impression of Inukashi. It was kind of cute, really. Safu now cleared her throat. “Inukashi doesn’t really like to go on any of the attractions and felt a little uncomfortable since we’re all going in pairs,” she said.

Shion blinked. “Inukashi never said that.”

“No, but it was easy enough to infer.”

“Of course it was.” Shion grinned and quietly added ‘for you’ after it. “So it’s the six of us, then?”

“Yes, Kairi was so kind as to give me her spare ticket.”

“Hey, you were my first choice!” Kairi sounded more than a little insulted, though she smiled again almost immediately after. “It’ll be fun, right?”

“Sure. So not to rain on the parade here, but if we want to catch an early train, we better hop onto this one,” Riku now said, pointing to the sign that mentioned how their train was about to depart in 2 minutes. Everyone quickly started scrambling for their passes and tickets.

 

They were still  early, though not early enough to avoid most of the morning rush. They were all but pushed into train and Shion was barely able to keep in Nezumi’s company, let alone the others’.  Nezumi shifted to let Shion hold on to the handle over their heads and didn’t protest when Shion took the same as Nezumi, their hands intertwining and warm. Probably too warm, but it would do for the short trip.

In fact, Nezumi complained surprisingly little about this day, all things considered.

“Hey.”

“Hm.”

Shion gently nudged him, though Nezumi likely didn’t notice as they were pressed close together anyway. It wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable. “Is this your first time to a theme park?”

Nezumi scoffed. “When would I have had the chance to go, exactly? Just because you as former mister class rep or whatever probably went on twenty trips a year…”

“Once a year,” Shion automatically corrected him, “and I was only invited once. I got kicked out, remember. And then the council had to make budget cuts.”

Nezumi looked at him for a second like he was about to make a snide remark, but he refrained from whatever he was going to say and just hummed in agreement.

Shion leaned against him a little more, way too close for strangers on the train, but thankfully they most certainly weren’t strangers to each other anymore.

 

They still had to walk quite a bit from the station to make it to the actual park entrance. Once they did, they were almost swamped in a group of what seemed to be no less than three clubs of high school students judging by their uniforms, the majority of them pretty tall and pretty excited to be here. Sora whined as a particularly tall guy in glasses pushed him aside and scurried to Riku’s side to stay there after that.

He brightened up considerably once a big globe came in sight and rushed at it, spreading his arms wide as if to welcome them home. “Welcome to Disneysea!”  

“Yeah, yeah, move along,” Nezumi muttered, at which Riku shot him a half-amused, half-annoyed look and Shion just nudged him.

Safu and Kairi were trailing behind a little, Kairi talking excitedly and Safu fiddling with the map she had picked up at the entrance gate and apparently planning out some kind of route. Shion didn’t mind; he’d decided from the moment he’d gotten the invitation that he’d go along with whatever the rest wanted to do. He had no preferences for attractions or anything. It was a free day, the weather was lovely and he got to spend it with his friends. It was a shame Inukashi couldn’t make it, of course, but other than that…

Sora interrupted his reverie with the exclamation they should all take a picture at the globe. Nezumi got pushed to the back with Riku as they were the tallest, Shion only just managing to stick by Nezumi’s side while Safu and her friend Kairi fit quite comfortably in front of them. Finally, Sora was balancing on one knee in the front row, experimenting with holding his phone just so that he could take a picture with all of them in it.

It proved to be quite the challenge. Kairi complained Sora had almost poked her eye out with his hair, and Shion was pretty sure at least one of the photos caught him sneezing, but Sora was satisfied after five minutes and they could finally continue into the actual park. They broke up in pairs to avoid collisions like earlier, and Shion quietly slipped his hand into Nezumi’s. To his surprise and delight, Nezumi made no effort to shake him off.

This would be a nice day.

 

*

 

Shion’s hand in his was kind of warm, really, but Nezumi happened to like that warmth a bit more than he probably should. He’d tried telling himself once not to get used to it, but Shion could be very stubborn. Nezumi had given up on telling himself after a while.

He didn’t quite like where Shion was leading him, though, trailing behind Sora who definitely had something in mind.

Oh shit.

“The Tower of Terror,” Safu slowly read from her map. “It has warning marks. A lot of them, in fact.” She pointed at the little plate near the huge building in front of them, which seemed to be the source of a suspiciously large amount of the screaming in the park.

Yeah, no way in hell.

“Let’s get in now that the wait is still okay!” Sora quipped excitedly, and he elbowed Shion in his enthusiasm. Shion seemed slightly less excited, but he nodded anyway and then turned to face Nezumi.

“I’ll pass. I actually value the proper working of my intestines and equilibrium, thank you very much.” Okay, so maybe that was sort of admitting he was scared, but Nezumi was pretty darn sure mankind was meant to stay on the ground and not fly around in weird contraptions or whatever this attraction entailed. It had ‘Terror’ in the name, how good could it be?

At least he wasn’t the only one who refused. Sora hadn’t even asked Riku, clearly having been here before, and Safu was still reading the warning signs with interest as Kairi was bouncing impatiently next to her.

“This does sound rather serious, doesn’t it?” Safu stated after about half a minute.

“Nah, they just do that to cover themselves, it’s fine,” Sora quickly said, maybe a little too quickly. “So just the three of us then? Me, Shion and Kairi?”

“Actually,  I was gonna go shopping for a bit instead,” Kairi confessed, “I liked it last time, but not enough to go through all the effort to get on again, sorry.”

“Fine!” Sora cheerfully threw his arm around Shion’s shoulder. “Then it’s just us two, see ya in a bit!”

Nezumi almost felt sorry for Shion, but considering he’d accepted Sora’s invitation right away the first time he was on his own.

Kairi swooped Safu away for some shopping, which left Nezumi in Riku’s pleasantly silent company.

“Popcorn?”

Nezumi raised his eyebrow at the bear-shaped container. “Did you confiscate that from Sora?”

“Yep. He won’t miss some of it though, he usually scouts the park for all the flavors.”

Riku had opened the container, and Nezumi wrinkled his nose when the scent got out. “What _is_ that?”

“Curry, but I think he mixed it with some caramel popcorn from earlier. Suit yourself.”

Okay, so the smell was pretty nasty, but the actual popcorn tasted fine, despite some weirdly sweet aftertaste from the caramel. Nezumi just stared at the container a little dubiously, wondering exactly how many kinds of popcorn it had already seen. They’d passed some – _interesting_ popcorn stands on their way here, most of which Sora had indeed hit up to get his container filled. Oh well. He wasn’t going to turn down free food, even if ‘food’ was a little generous in this case.

 

Nezumi and Riku finished most of the popcorn as they waited for either Sora and Shion or Kairi and Safu to return, but it appeared the row was rather long and shopping took a while. It meant Nezumi spent way more time than he’d had before with Riku, whom he mostly just knew as ‘Sora’s less obnoxious friend’ from a distance before today.

Nezumi quickly learnt from Riku that he, Sora and Kairi went way back; that Riku was usually in charge of the tickets and fast passes in the park, whatever the hell those were (Riku explained you could get those to get into terrible rides like this one faster, which Nezumi frankly found a waste of time one way or another and didn’t refrain from telling him so, to which Riku just smirked); that Kairi had been really, really excited to ask Safu along for today; and that Riku was disgustingly and utterly _gone_ for Sora, because seriously, no-one gushed this much over only their supposed ‘best friend’ even if they went back a lifetime.

Then again, Nezumi couldn’t find it in him to judge him too hard, feeling like a hypocrite somehow if he did.

Damn, he was growing soft.

“So, any attractions you want to get in?” Riku asked after a while, toying with some coins as he was eyeing a nearby ice cream stand.

Nezumi shrugged. “I don’t even know what’s here, really. I might consider things that don’t have ‘terror’ in the name.”

Riku snorted at that. “Ha. Not a fan of the thrill rides, then?”

“No idea, but not willing to try today.”

“Probably for the best.”

As if on cue, Sora and Shion came out of the Tower of Terror at that moment, Sora grinning like he’d just had the time of his life and Shion like – well, he could barely stand for one thing, heavily leaning on Sora for support and his face very, very pale.

“You look like shit,” Nezumi told him, figuring honesty was the best policy.

Shion didn’t even argue with him and just nodded, immediately clinging to Nezumi once he’d let go of Sora for a moment. “Don’t let me talk for a while,” he muttered, burying his face against Nezumi’s shirt.

Nezumi half-heartedly petted his head with his free hand, trying to be as comforting as possible considering Shion had brought this on himself.“Don’t throw up on me, I swear.”

“Hm-m.” Shion whimpered in response. His face was close enough for Nezumi to see he was wrinkling his nose. “Oh god, please put the popcorn away.”

“We don’t even have any…”

Riku took over the empty container from Nezumi anyway and screwed the top back on, which seemed to do the trick as Shion wasn’t going green anymore. Maybe just the smell was enough to make him sick, which Nezumi couldn’t really argue with.

 

By the time Safu and Kairi made it back, Shion had recovered enough to stand on his own legs again, and he even managed a smile now. Though, when Nezumi asked if he wanted to go for another round and Sora looked like he was going to take him up on that, Shion promptly paled again and Nezumi hurried to mention it had just been a joke. Regardless of whether Shion had put himself in it or not, Nezumi didn’t actually derive joy from seeing him faint or throw up.

Safu looked at Nezumi’s arm around her friend and gave him a small, genuine smile before looking back at Kairi. “Apologies, it took a little longer than planned,” she said, fidgeting with the purple cape hoodie she was now wearing. “I told her she really didn’t have to, but Kairi insisted on getting me a gift.”

“Trust me, you’ll be glad in the evening when it cools down and the wind picks up,” Kairi cheerfully said, “plus everyone needs souvenirs, right?” She tapped her own hat, which was shaped like some sort of dog’s head. “So, how did you like the Tower of Terror, Shion? You look a little pale.”

“It was great,” Shion managed to bring out without falling flat on his face somehow. “My stomach just – didn’t take it so well.”

“Ouch.” Kairi looked more sympathetic than Nezumi felt. “Yeah, my first time in it didn’t go so well either. Why don’t we go somewhere a bit calmer next?”

 

*

 

After the girls had joined them again, Safu stuck to Shion’s side for a while until she seemed confident he wasn’t going to get sick anymore. Shion didn’t blame her, as he’d had to take quite some deep breaths after getting out of the Tower and still wasn’t absolutely positive he’d be able to walk on his own.

Or well, maybe he was by now, but it was a nice excuse to hold onto Nezumi for a little longer.

“It’s fine, Safu, it’s just nausea,” he told her again, “it’s already fading.”

Safu peered at him a little more, her eyes piercing, before she was finally satisfied and changed her pace to catch up with Kairi again.

“Purple really does look nice on you,” Kairi told her, and Shion noticed with a smile that Safu seemed somewhat flustered at the compliment. Kairi just laughed out loud. “It does! Hey, Sora, that’s the wrong turn.”

“It’s not,” Sora cheerfully announced over his shoulder. “This is where I meant to go.”

“ _You_ , yes.” Riku nudged him with enough force to push Sora aside, almost into the popcorn stand for sea salt popcorn while Sora just laughed. “We already did your choice first.”

“This is closer, we can go to the Arabian Coast next! I really wanted to check this out though, they renewed the musical. Come on, please?”

Nezumi slightly but noticeably stifled at the word ‘musical’, as if he was expecting something from Shion. Shion, in turn, was so distracted he almost tripped over a boy with mostly blond hair, muttering a ‘sorry’ only to be met with absolutely zero response as the boy was completely absorbed in some game on his phone. Well then.

 

Sora’s goal was the Mermaid Lagoon. Or more specifically…

“No,” Nezumi plainly said, staring at both the wait time and the name of the attraction.

Sora’s face fell. “Oh, come on! You don’t even know what…”

“ _No_.”

Shion smirked as he realized exactly why Nezumi might be so reluctant, and poked Sora to get his attention. “Did you know Nezumi can sing? Really well, too.” Okay, so he was going to regret that remark. Nezumi shot him an absolutely lethal glance.

“I am _not_ going to sing along to a _mermaid musical_ , Shion, I’m drawing the line right here and now.”

Sora positively shone at that, completely ignoring Nezumi’s protests. “Really?! That’s so cool! You should totally –”

“I absolutely refuse.” Nezumi was still staring at Shion and attempted to communicate something without words, probably ‘traitor’ or something. Shion hoped it was just that, anyway. Oops.

“If you actually want to get in before noon, we should get in line now,” Riku pointed out, and that ended the discussion for the moment.

 

Sora seemed to realize Nezumi wasn’t someone he should push, and thus he didn’t suggest any singing anymore but instead turned to offer everyone in their group popcorn. He’d managed to get his refill of sea salted popcorn before, and Shion’s stomach felt well enough now to give it a shot. So far, so good.

At least the musical wasn’t a strain on his stomach (despite what Nezumi tried to suggest beforehand), and it was quite fun indeed, even if the songs did have the annoying habit to stick in his head for quite a bit.

It wasn’t just Shion, either, though Sora didn’t seem quite as troubled by it and just merrily hummed the songs, sometimes only barely in tune. He’d grabbed both Riku and Kairi’s hand somewhere, swinging them along, the both of them going along with it like it was an everyday occurrence. It probably was.

 “Hey, Shion!” Sora suddenly leapt forward, put an arm on his shoulder. “Your stomach feeling better yet?”

“Pretty much, yes.”

“Good, because there’s an ice cream stand over there and you should definitely try out the sea salt ice cream.”

“I just had popcorn,” Shion started, though it was pretty warm today and ice cream did sound like a good idea. Although, sea salt? “Okay, surprise me.”

“Great!” Sora seemed happy enough to drag him along and picked up his song again.

Shion was close enough to hear Nezumi groan something along the lines of “If he starts singing _Under the sea_ again I _will_ strangle him”, to which Riku just chuckled and replied with “I’d love to see you try”. Huh.

Meanwhile, the offending party was blissfully oblivious from the exchange and very distinctly sang ‘Under the sea~’, and Shion would swear he heard Nezumi grind his teeth in frustration.

 

Sora seemed rather disappointed that the sea salt ice cream came between two waffles instead of on a stick, and Shion almost laughed out loud at his shocked face when he showed him there was some strawberry jelly in there too. The ice cream was still sweet, but it did indeed have the salty taste the name had promised.

Shion’s attention had quickly been drawn elsewhere, however.

A nearby stand was selling headwear, and he recognized the Pluto hat that Kairi was still wearing. There was something else he’d spotted on other visitors, and well, he wasn’t one to throw away his money irresponsibly, but the joke was too good to pass up.

“Nezumi, I got you something.”

He made sure Nezumi didn’t have time to see what was in his hands, which Shion considered quite the feat as it took talent to sneak anything past Nezumi’s notice. Still, he managed to push the band on Nezumi’s head without the latter realizing what was going on until it was too late. Good.

“What the hell was that, Shion?”

Next to them, Sora and Kairi were bursting out laughing, Riku just grinned and Safu was stifling a grin behind her hand, judging by the way her eyes gleamed.

“In all fairness, it does suit you,” Safu eventually said, voice impressively even considering the rest was still cracking up.

Nezumi rolled his eyes. “How much should I regret not pushing you in that terror tower for another round, exactly?”

“Nothing too bad.” Shion grinned. “Just – ears. That suit you.”

That earned him a very sharp glare. “It’s mouse ears, isn’t it. You just _had_ to go there.”

Nezumi was a good guesser. “Yes.”

But to Shion’s surprise, Nezumi didn’t throw off the band. Instead, he cast a look at Kairi with her dog hat, then Safu with her cape, and finally into the crowd behind them. If anything, he was definitely not the only one wearing the merchandise.

“Fine. You’re going to have to deal with the consequences of me still associating with you, then.”

Shion only managed a very articulate “Whuh?” in response, and Nezumi flicked his forehead.

“Because _I_ am good-looking enough to distract from that contraption you put on my head, whereas _you_ will just be the guy hanging around with someone wearing mouse ears, of course.”

“Shouldn’t they just be distracted by your looks, then? You just said so.”  

Nezumi opened his mouth, then closed it again without forming a reply to that. He instead opted to slap at Shion’s hand and seize it immediately after, which didn’t do much to convey any possible annoyance.

Shion smiled at the gesture and thought of something else. “Are you having fun, Nezumi?” Shion himself was, most definitely, but…

“I’m enjoying myself well enough. Could do without the spiky airhead and his subpar singing, though.”

Shion grinned. “I thought _I_ was the airhead.”

“So did I, but this guy has got you beat. Sorry, Shion, you lost this round.”

“Such a pity.” Shion gently nudged him. “I mean it, though. I like it here, but I wasn’t sure if you…”

“I just said so, didn’t I?”

“Really, huh.” Shion smirked. “Even if I buy you silly ears?”

“Don’t push it now, Shion.” He squeezed his hand. “Just – please something without songs now.”

 

*

 

Predictably, no-one listened to Nezumi when he made his very reasonable suggestion. Riku had pointed at the Arabian Coast nearby, Sora had managed to get another refill of his popcorn container (chocolate covered this time), and Kairi was talking to Safu in a softer tone than before, too quiet for even Nezumi to overhear completely. And alright, he wasn’t bothering that much in the first place.

Shion had asked about the rides in this part of the park, and Sora had enthusiastically rattled off the whole list from the top of his head. Frequent visitor alright. He and Shion might have some things in common, but ‘memorization skills’ was definitely not one of those things. If he knew all those names, he must be here often.

At any rate, they ended up in an indoor boat ride with yet another annoyingly catchy song. But at least it was a quiet ride otherwise and they got a mostly empty boat, Shion and Nezumi taking the last bench for the two of them.

Nezumi suspected the ride was mostly aimed at kids, but it was all fine as it meant he could look at Shion next to him marveling over the technical aspects of it. He was whispering excitedly over the animatronics and sure, Nezumi could see a lot of effort and engineering had gone into it. He was more distracted by the way the lights caught Shion’s hair and eyes. Halfway through, Shion gave him a mildly puzzled look. Nezumi didn’t think he really needed to reply and ruffled his hair a little, leaving his hand in place until Shion just smiled and leaned in more.

 _Oh, right. It’s a theme park_ date _._ He found he might enjoy that idea more now than he’d initially thought.

 

Once they got out, Kairi and Safu mysteriously vanished. Not so mysteriously to Nezumi, who’d caught a whisper of ‘carpets’ before Kairi had steered Safu away, but he had to admit he was impressed by their stealth.

They explored the Arabian Coast with the four of them then, though Sora kept calling it ‘Agrabah’ before shaking his head and correcting himself. There were some ball games that Nezumi considered a waste of money but that Sora and Riku gladly participated in, Sora dragging out a plush toy and Riku coming out with several pins as consolation prizes he passed along. Nezumi kind of suspected he might have lost on purpose.

Eventually they were joined by Kairi and Safu again, the latter slightly ruffled and – was she actually blushing, even if slightly? Huh.

“Where to next, guys?” Kairi cheerfully asked. “Got any fastpasses for anything?”

Riku whipped out his phone and checked something, then shook his head. “I don’t think it’s necessary today,” he said, “pretty much all lines are very doable, it’s a quiet day.”

 _Not my idea of ‘quiet’,_ Nezumi thought to himself just as he almost got knocked over by a small red-haired boy, apparently part of a bigger group as he was shouting various names and waving rather excitedly.

Shion had left his side in favor of Safu, leaning over her shoulder to look on the map she had folded out again with Kairi holding the other end. He seemed pretty excited over something.

“Can we go here?”

 “Sure, that’s just around the corner,” Riku agreed, “I guess we can get something to eat there, too, in case anyone is hungry.”

At the rate that Sora was getting popcorn refills and handing it out, Nezumi kind of doubted anyone was going hungry any time soon, but something  with a little more substance sounded good.

 

Riku led the way this time, through some kind of pass that lead rather close to the artificial volcano that was in the middle of the park and rather hard to miss, as it even erupted from time to time. What the hell was Shion so excited about?

Then they ended up at the foot of the volcano, overlooking another lagoon that was devoid of mermaids and instead harbored a submarine that – actually looked familiar? He’d definitely seen illustrations, but he’d also very definitely not read up on the park before.

“The Mysterious Island,” Shion declared next to him, looking up expectantly. “Jules Verne! Look, and that’s the Nautilus, right? From _Under the_ … Eh.” He grinned a bit sheepishly as he caught himself. “From _20,000 Leagues_. You lent me the book a while ago, remember? I recall really liking it. And the volcano leads into the center of the Earth! Well, not literally I assume, but that’s the name of the attraction. And the book, of course.”

 _So that’s why._ Nezumi had to admit, the area was impressive. Most of the park was, in fact. Even if he wasn’t terribly interested in singing mermaids or things with terror _right there in the name,_ seriously Shion what were you thinking, he could still appreciate a good décor, thank you very much. “Impressive,” he thus said, finding that he meant it.

Shion smiled broadly, apparently pleased his suggestion had gone over well. “I don’t know about the attractions, though – Sora?”

“Leagues is super slow,” Sora immediately said, “it’s nice though! Journey is great, but it’s faster and has a drop near the end.”

“Not nearly as bad as the Tower,” Riku supplied, no doubt having Shion’s green face in mind as he gave him a worrying look. “I think you’d be okay, but it’s your call.”

Nezumi trusted Riku’s judgment a little more than his shorter and spikier companion’s, although this was still a guy talking who regularly went to these parks with said companion and whose judgment was thus likely pretty skewed. Eugh.

Safu was no help either; she just studied the warnings on her map, frowned, and asked Kairi something about G-forces to which the other girl just shrugged and said it was a fun experience, if exhilarating.

“Food first,” Sora decided then, making Nezumi wonder in silence if he perhaps had a second stomach after all that popcorn.

 

Nezumi and Shion ended up sharing a meal, both for budgeting reasons (‘Come on Nezumi, it’s a date, no need to be stingy!’ ‘No need to spend needless money either, I’m _not_ getting a souvenir dish’) and because they weren’t really that hungry after all the popcorn and ice cream.

To save their stomachs, they all agreed on the 20,000 Leagues attraction first, which was indeed a rather slow ride but blissfully devoid of annoying songs.

 

Apparently there was some show going on in another part of the park, so the row for the Journey ride had decreased enough for them to consider it. Nezumi had his doubts.

Shion, however, was the one who ended up with regrets.

Surprisingly, Nezumi found he quite liked the ride, though the drop he could have done without. Shion was however turning some interesting shades of green and white, leaning into Nezumi quite heavily and muttering something about being glad not to have taken a full plate at lunch.

Thankfully Riku had brought bottles of water, and after some minutes on a bench and drinking most of one of those, Shion declared he felt well enough again to explore the rest of the park.

“I had no idea just how fragile His Majesty could be,” Nezumi told him, which just earned him a pointed glare from the royal highness in question.

“You didn’t go into the Tower of Terror; you’re not allowed to judge. Besides, you screamed, too.”

“Did not.”

“You totally did,” Sora cheerfully mentioned behind them, easily avoiding Nezumi’s half-hearted slap in retaliation. The guy had faster reflexes than Nezumi would have given him credit for. Not that he’d meant to actually hit him, of course. That might have turned into an interesting fight, but Sora was Shion’s friend and Nezumi kind of wanted to avoid getting in Riku’s bad books, too. They weren’t that close, but he’d seen the guy in gym class.

Their group of six split up in the pairs they’d arrived in then. Nezumi deemed it best if Shion didn’t go inside any attractions for now, if only to avoid that lunch ending up on his clothes after all. Meanwhile Sora insisted on another ride in the Tower of Terror, which was almost on the opposite side of the park, while Safu seemed incredibly interested in the layout and architecture of the Mysterious Island area in particular. Kairi gladly took her on a tour, whereas Nezumi decided he’d rather get out of there sooner than later when the volcano started to erupt again.

Shion had recovered enough to quietly laugh at his reaction. “It’s fake, you know.”

“You don’t say,” Nezumi grumbled. He seized Shion by the hand and demanded they’d get to another area – anything as long as it didn’t have mermaids or volcanoes.

 

*

 

In the afternoon, Shion felt himself growing more and more tired, and the day was starting to become a bit of a blur. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, because the park was incredibly detailed and worth several walks to check out the architecture alone. Shion just lost track after a while where they’d already been to, especially at the rate they kept meeting up with their friends and parting just as quickly. He counted at least two new refills for Sora’s popcorn container during those encounters, though clearly he didn’t empty all of them alone, since Riku had some chocolate smudges on his lips as well.

Nezumi had raised his eyebrow at that. “Didn’t hold you for the chocolate type.”

“Dark chocolate is okay, I guess,” Riku simply said, though he hurried to rub off the smudges as if he felt caught, considering his slight but noticeable blush and Sora’s wide grin. Meanwhile, Shion shared a smirk with Nezumi.

Yeah, that definitely had been white chocolate.

 

Each time they met Safu and Kairi, it seemed Kairi had gotten yet another trinket, also wearing a pass holder and a pouch now. When they met again late in the afternoon, Shion had the opportunity to talk to Safu alone for a bit as Kairi had gotten into a discussion with Nezumi about something or another. It didn’t seem very serious, as Nezumi kept his calm and Kairi was just waving her hands excitedly. Safu was looking at her rather fondly before directing herself at Shion. “You seem to be enjoying yourself despite the trials you put your equilibrium through earlier today,” she said, a tiny hint of a smile in her voice that betrayed she was mostly joking.

“I made a full recovery.” Shion grinned, then nodded at her companion. “I wasn’t aware you got along so well with Kairi?”

“It is a fairly recent development,” Safu said, “we worked together for a project in science class since both of our usual partners weren’t available this time, and after that she kept asking if I wanted to spend more time with her.”

Shion smiled a little self-consciously – he’d been Safu’s usual partner until he’d ended up in Nezumi’s class last year.

Safu just lightly chuckled at his expression. “I didn’t mean to imply anything, Shion, don’t worry. You asked, so I answered. Kairi’s grades are actually not much worse than yours and she is a very nice lab partner to have, really, so I might have found you a worthy replacement.”

She smiled brightly at that, and Shion wasn’t sure how literally she had meant it. Regardless, he was happy to see her this pleased with her companion. She’d at first almost sounded like she had been forced to come, although he hadn’t had the impression Safu was here today against her will. “So you didn’t just get dragged along here?”

“Oh, no. I was honestly just surprised when I was apparently Kairi’s first choice. Pleased, very much, but also surprised. I figured she invited me for your sake, as naturally you would ask Nezumi along with a second ticket.”

“Ah.” Shion bent his head. “I’m sorry. I thought it wouldn’t be enjoyable for you if it was me and Sora…”

“Of course it would,” Safu said, “but it was extremely obvious you would invite Nezumi when given the opportunity. I’m not upset, Shion, it is a well-known fact. You chose Nezumi. I cannot say whether you choose him over me…”

“Never!”

“But it’s the truth that you chose him,” Safu finished her sentence unperturbed, “and he you. It only makes sense you’d invite him, and in all honesty, I believe Sora was counting on that as he extended Riku’s invitation to you as well. I really wasn’t expecting you to invite me on a date, Shion. Not anymore, anyway.” She was still smiling. “I suppose in the end, we are all here with our preferred person for the situation.”

“Preferred person, hm.” Shion looked over at Kairi, who seemed rather pleased with the outcome of whatever discussion she was having with Nezumi and looked up to meet Shion’s gaze with a grin.

“Hey, Shion! Can I get Safu back yet? We wanted to try the flying carpets once more before the show tonight.”

“Flying carpets? Is that where you two sneaked off to earlier?” Shion asked his best friend, who was very definitely blushing now. It was a strange thing to see on Safu, though she didn’t really sound embarrassed.

“Yes. It’s quite nice, rather relaxing if you have the last seats.”

“Hm. Nice atmosphere, huh?” Shion smiled at her telling lack of reply, glad that Safu had found someone she enjoyed spending time with this much.

As if on cue, Kairi joined them and easily put an arm around Safu. “Shall we go then? I know a good place for dinner too, if you’d like.”

“That would be nice, yes,” Safu said, giving Shion a last glance before excusing herself.

Right after the two girls walked off, quietly talking and laughing about something, Shion felt a literal weight on his shoulder.

“Maybe we should go eat, too,” Nezumi’s voice came near his ear. “At some place else entirely from those two or your spiky-haired friend, I mean. Enough gross couples around here.”

Shion grinned. “Sure, let’s find a place.”

 

They ended up again in the Mysterious Island area, as Shion had noticed Nezumi had indeed taken a liking to it, minus the whole erupting volcano part.

Dinner proved to be a good distraction, although Shion get a text halfway through from Sora that was littered with emoji.

“What?” Nezumi said, sounding rather offended at the dinner interruption. (He’d initially refused to pick anything until Shion said his mother would treat him if that was what it took for Nezumi to eat a decent meal.  Which wasn’t technically true as Shion treated him out of his own pocket, but he knew for sure his mother would whole-heartedly agree anyway.)

“Sora’s telling us to get to the Mediterranean Harbor asap,” Shion read out his text, stumbling over the emoji to get the actual message. “There’s going to be a show with fireworks, he’s saving us seats.”

Nezumi swallowed his last bite before he even bothered replying. “Fireworks. Great.”

“I’m sure it’s safe,” Shion hurried to say, “but if it makes you uncomfortable, I’ll just tell Sora we’re not going, no problem.”

“It doesn’t have to mean _you_ can’t go.” Nezumi seemed in earnest, not a hint of a smirk in his voice.

Truth being told, Shion would love to go. Apparently the evening show was very impressive and Sora sounded very, very excited, it was infectious. But… “Well, it’s a date, right?”

And Nezumi choked on the last sip of his drink.

Shion just shrugged and clasped his own glass. “You said so yourself, it’s a theme park date… Well, double date.”

“Triple date, more like,” Nezumi muttered under his breath, and Shion only caught it over the murmurs around him because he was so attuned to Nezumi’s voice by now, no matter what tone it took.

“Well, anyway, I’m not going to a long show without you.”

“You went into the terror tower without me.”

“You had company then, and it’s not really a – a date thing. I mean, the tower looks great on the inside, but the attraction is just a couple of minutes. Not really a chance to, eh, appreciate the company.” Shion fidgeted a bit as he considered his next words. “I mean, this show is about half an hour, and you’re my preferred person to be here with, so…”

Nezumi snorted before he could finish. “I am horrible impressed with your vocabulary. How can you read as many books as you borrow from me and somehow still manage to screw up _this_ much?”

“ _Nezumi_!”

“I know, I know, you’re trying.” He did smirk now. “You can stop blushing out of frustration any time soon, Shion. I’ll come to the fireworks with you, and you’d better be _excellent_ company to make up for that disastrous attempt of a confession or whatever the hell that was supposed to be.”

 

Shion didn’t know about being ‘excellent’ company, but he knew Nezumi definitely preferred his over Sora’s at least once they arrive and Sora sheepishly admitted the show wasn’t on for another hour.

“But now we have the best seats!”

“I’m not going to sit on the _cold hard floor_ for another _hour_ just to watch your…”

“We have blankets,” Riku calmly pointed out.

“And popcorn,” Sora amended as he opened the well-used container. Shion was almost surprised to see he’d still managed to find yet another flavor. “Cappuccino!”

Nezumi groaned and knelt down on the colorful blanket spread out in front of him in defeat. “Who lets this guy anywhere _near_ caffeine. Who.”

“I don’t think caffeine can be any worse than his sugar intake today already has been, really.”

“Hey!” Sora nudged his own companion good-naturedly, but still hard enough to shove Riku into Shion. “I shared most of it and you know it!”

“Sure. You also got at least three ice creams, and that’s just that I know of.”

“Yeah, because _you_ bit off most of my second one!”

“I’m not doing this. No.”Nezumi resolutely took up the blanket in one hand and Shion’s arm in the other, pulling both a safe distance away from the bickering duo, though most of their ‘arguing’ had dissolved into Riku laughing at the faces Sora was pulling now.

 

For the most part, waiting wasn’t that bad. A rather large group shuffled in behind them, and two short guys nearly kicked Shion in the neck in their excitement, though thankfully two taller members of their group managed to quiet them down and made them sit down quickly. Aside from that incident, the wait was pretty quiet, and Shion shifted to Nezumi’s side as closely as he could.

Half an hour before the show would start he finally spotted Safu and Kairi, huddled together a short distance from Sora and Riku. Safu was carefully draping her hoodie around both her and Kairi’s shoulders to keep warm. It wasn’t exactly cold yet, but it was definitely cooler than it had been during the day.

The wind started to pick up on occasion and Shion got five concerned texts from Sora until he saw Riku stealing his phone; he got a quick text saying ‘don’t mind him, last time the show got cancelled due to the wind and he’s still upset about it’ shortly after.

 

The show wasn’t cancelled that evening, and Shion found himself forgetting all about the cold breeze, but not quite his company. Nezumi wasn’t entirely at ease with fire, but he seemed taken with the show, suitably impressed and Shion ended up watching Nezumi more sometimes than the actual show on water.

He shuffled just a little closer, hand on Nezumi’s and finding Nezumi lacing their fingers together in response. Maybe it really was a date after all, because despite the thousands of people around them, Shion still felt like it was just the two of them for the moment as he leaned on Nezumi’s shoulder for the finale.

 

They were all tired but pleased, and no-one really protested when Sora of all people suggested they leave the park some fifteen minutes after the show and some last, most likely terribly under-lit pictures at the harbor.

As more people took the show as a nice end to their day, it was naturally very busy at the train station. The same huge group as that morning crowded around them again – one particularly tall and scary-looking guy cowering in fear when he bumped into Nezumi and got a pointed grey-eyed glare in return – but thankfully, most people took different trains or got off two stations later.

They managed to secure seats for the last part of the trip, with only Riku being forced to stand but apparently not minding much as he kept an animated conversation going with Sora in front of him.

Kairi had at last taken off her hat and had brushed Safu’s shoulder, asked if it was okay to lean on her and then promptly fallen asleep, with Safu now nodding off as well. Nezumi had taken off his mouse ears at some point, but Shion noticed to his quiet amusement that he still held onto them.

 

*

 

Nezumi was staying over at Shion’s place that night, since tomorrow was Sunday anyway and it was a common enough occurrence that Karan didn’t bat an eyelid. She cheerfully accepted the souvenir snacks the boys had brought her, asked if they’d had a nice time, and mentioned how she’d laid out the guest futon before retreating into her own room.

 

Naturally, Nezumi fell down face-first on Shion’s bed, on Shion’s pillow, heaving a deep sigh. “Home sweet home.”

“It’s not technically your home – or even your bed, for that matter,” Shion said, but he knew better than to argue and sat down on the floor, leaning against the bed as he checked his cellphone. The thing had started beeping some minutes ago and was still at it: Sora was sending him the pictures of that day, one by one. He’d managed to take quite a bit more than Shion had noticed, sending a bunch of candid shots after their initial photos at the globe.

Sora had also taken a picture of their on-ride photo on the Tower of Terror, which Shion quickly decided no-one else really needed to see. That wasn’t his proudest moment. One was a bit blurry and a shot of Sora and Riku, quickly followed by a message saying ‘oooops didn’t mean to send you that one!’, and ten other photos followed after to obscure the mishap.

Shion liked the last one best. It was taken during the indoor boat ride – he hadn’t noticed Sora had turned around to take a picture of him and Nezumi, and surely the lighting was pretty bad, but it was a nice shot anyway. He quickly saved it on his cellphone.

“Does that guy never shut up?” Nezumi groaned from the bed, burying his head even deeper into the pillow.

Shion quietly laughed as he saw two last messages dripping in, one with emoji and one more to the point.

> Ohh we should totally go 2 Disneyland next time!!!! Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ  (ノ＞▽＜。)ノ

 

> Phone finally successfully confiscated, sorry about that. I did warn about the sugar intake. Have a good weekend. R

“Riku  took away his phone now,” Shion reported to Nezumi, and he put away his cell phone in favor of looking up at his guest. “Sora did say we should all go to Disneyland next time, though.”

“ _Spare me_.” Nezumi’s words mostly got lost in the pillow, but his body language was obvious enough and Shion laughed out loud.

“Come on, it was fun, right?”

Nezumi mumbled something into the pillow then that he genuinely couldn’t make out anymore, and so Shion shoved himself on the bed next to him and put his head next to Nezumi’s. “What was that?”

“I said…” Nezumi looked up, shocked for a second to find Shion this close, but recovering quickly and avoiding eye contact, much to Shion’s dismay. “I said it was, but I could have done without the extra company. Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?” Shion tried to sound innocent, but he knew he was smiling pretty widely despite his best efforts.

“ _Ugh._ ”

Shion got his pillow shoved into his face, but easily laughed it off after Nezumi’s earlier words had already given him a warm feeling inside. “Hey, Nezumi.”

“Hm.”

“I like being with just you too, okay? But sometimes it’s also fun to hang out with others. I mean, you already get along with Safu, and I saw you talking to Riku before, so…”

Nezumi’s fingers were trailing through Shion’s hair at that point, and he forgot whatever else he was about to say. It didn’t really matter anyway, not with Nezumi looking at him like that, not with being so close that it would be so very easy to cross that final distance and…

Shion closed his eyes in reflex when Nezumi was close enough to feel his breath brushing his lips, happily sighing just before their lips touched.

The moment lasted for a good ten seconds until Shion’s phone started beeping again. Nezumi pulled back and went back to groaning into the pillow. “Just can’t win with that guy.”

“That’s not Sora, I think,” Shion said, confused about who would text him this late at night if Riku had taken away Sora’s phone. Safu, maybe? That didn’t sound like her unless something serious had happened.

 A quick glance told him it was a mail with attachment from Inukashi. Shion curiously opened it.

> Hope your day was less gross than mine. Heard u almost threw up tho, sorry bout that. Heres a pic of my day, anyway. See ya.

And attached was…

“Oh, _no_!”

“What now? Sora threw up all that popcorn and sent you a picture or _what_?”

“No, look!” Shion tossed the phone on the bed and groaned in frustration. “ _That’s_ why Inukashi couldn’t come.”

Nezumi took the phone and stared at the screen, squinting a little. “What am I looking at, here. Because I better hope it’s not what it looks like, that is disgusting.”

“It’s _puppies_ , Nezumi!” Shion took back his pillow properly so he could bury his face in it this time. “New-born puppies! We missed out on puppies!”

“Excuse me, _you_ missed out on puppies. I don’t give a damn about those mutts.”

“Don’t be rude, Nezumi.” Shion sighed. “Well, I guess we can just drop by tomorrow then.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to touch new-born animals.”

“I meant to see how Inukashi is doing, I never said anything about touching the new puppies!”

“Maybe you didn’t, but your face says enough.” Nezumi tore away the pillow to properly look at him. “Are you going to be grumpy like this all night over a bunch of animals, now?”

“ _Puppies_ , Nezumi.”

“Yeah, I got the message the first five times. Fine, be grumpy then. You can take the futon.”

Shion surely wasn’t going to give up the  bed without a fight, but he was tired and Nezumi didn’t have to go through much trouble to best him and push him off the bed. He didn’t really, however. Nezumi’s arm quickly and gracefully caught Shion before he could really fall and pulled him back in, faces as close as they’d been earlier.

Shion smiled and pressed a quick, tired kiss on Nezumi’s lips. “I’m not taking the futon, Nezumi.”

“Well, I’m not either. My back still hurts from sitting on the ground.”

“Fine. Like old times, then.”

“Hm.” Nezumi took the phone from Shion’s hand, clicked the mute button and tossed it on the bedside table. “Like old times. Now shut up, I’m trying to sleep.”

“Good night, Nezumi. I really did have fun today.”

“Yeah yeah, me too, now shush. And good night, I guess.”

 Shion closed his eyes and snuggled closer to Nezumi, smile still on his lips. A good day indeed.

(Though he did wonder who on earth had told Inukashi about the Tower of Terror.)

**Author's Note:**

> I can only hope it's not _terribly_ obvious that I am a giant wuss and I didn't actually go on most of the attractions myself. (Well, not in the Tower of Terror or Journey to the Center of the Earth, anyway. I kinda regret the latter after watching on-ride videos but you cannot pay me enough to get into the Tower thanks.)  
>  All the popcorn flavors are definitely real and so is the merchandise, and also I kind of really regret not getting a [Rapunzel hoodie](http://item.rakuten.co.jp/jesus-yummy/disney1532005/) which is what Kairi got Safu here. Sea salt ice cream is currently served as a [monaka](http://listenforthelove.tumblr.com/post/122848957441/going-through-my-photos-right-now-and-realized-i) so I share Sora's disappointment. As well as over Fantasmic being cancelled, because they do actually cancel it if the wind is too strong. Can attest. Sigh.
> 
> Oh and I recently fell into volleyball hell, so every 'random' character they bump into is very definitely a Haikyuu cameo.


End file.
